Elections of 6th May 2012: First Conclusions

8/5/2012

The results of the 6 May elections are indeed staggering and create a new political, social and –very possibly– a new financial situation in our country and surely –in less degree– in the European Union, too. Summarizing in three basic points the message of the elections, it can be said:

(a) The policy of social and political forces which drove the economy, the politics, the society in an unprecedented crisis and threw back the living standards, the social and political rights of the working people many decades back, was condemned in the most striking manner.

(b) The influence of the struggles, of the general strikes, of the huge demonstrations and revolting clashes and in general of the prolonged social war of the previous period on the consciousness of the working masses, was expressed with them showing a totally different electoral behavior.

(c) The fascist blackmails (“bankruptcy/default”, “empty shelves”, “N. Korea”, “european course of the country and Euro” etc.) of the European Union and of the other imperialists, of the capitalists and their servants (bourgeois politicians, big journalists, money-craving academics and other punks) were ignored or even contempted.

(d) The situation of the labor movement was imprinted, in view of the new, unbelievably cruel attack which was planned for immediately after the elections, by the dictatorship of PASOK-ND, by European Union and IMF. More specifically:

1. The two main bourgeois parties, which are the main responsibles for the country’s bankruptcy and the brutal memorandum policies, faced a true electoral crash, getting unbelievably low percentages (13,18% for PASOK from 43,92% in 2009, 18,85% for ND from 33,47% in 2009, percentage which had been considered its historic low since its founding after 1974) and losing more than 3 million votes (PASOK lost almost 2.180.000 and ND almost 1.105.000 votes). Both bourgeois parties got especially low percentages in big urban centers and above all in Athens and in working class and popular neighborhoods.

In addition, all the rest bourgeois pro-memorandum forces, like the LAOS, the parties of Bakogianni and Manos etc. were openly and thundelry denounced, not managing to enter the Parliament despite the fact that they were reinforced in in any possible way by the capital, the media and the European Union. [Note: Bakogianni and Manos are ultra neoliberals, coming out from ND. Manos has left ND some years ago, Bakogianni quite recently, when she lost the party’s presidency to Samaras, ND’s current president. Bakogianni is leader of “Democratic Alliance”, Manos of “Action” – recently, after the elections, they were in talks for getting together in a new party.]

2. All parties of the left (reformist and far left) were reinforced, showing the clear turn of the working people, of the poor popular layers and of the youth.  They gathered all together a huge percentage, which is an historical record, even bigger than the 24,5% of 1958. [Note: in 1958, just 9 years after the end of the civil war, with the devastating defeat of the left and the huge repression that followed, the formation of EDA (Greek Democratic Left), a reformist formation endorsed by the then illegal KKE, got the second seat in the elections, with 24,5%. This was a political earthquake for the post-civil war regime imposed by the right.]

(a) However, the big winner is SYRIZA, which sky rocketed its electoral percentages at 16,78%, becoming the principal opposition party! It is clear that SYRIZA better expressed the sentiment that basically is predominant –for the moment– in the popular masses, that is of seeking a solution through the elections, possibly inside the European Union. On the other hand, of course, it objectively expresses the militant feeling of the masses, their will to get rid of the pro-memorandum forces, the lust for unity of the left forces and maybe for a left government or for an alternative to the barbarity of the system.

(b) KKE, despite its small increase at national level, comes out seriously injured (which is reflected in its announcement after the elections), which is sure that will have consequences in the future. First, it’s the first time it is electorally outnumbered by another left party – and this was done in a spectacular manner. Second, and maybe the most important, its strength decreases in the basic working class centers and especially of those in Athens, in which the biggest clashes took place and in general were the epicenter of the prolonged social war. This is a quite important fact, meaning that broader masses saw and disapproved the KKE’s policy of dividing the struggles, its absence from every social and revolting process.

(c) The lists of the far left (ANTARSYA, electoral cooperation between ΚΚΕ (m-l) and M-L ΚΚΕ, ΕΕΚ) were reinforced and more the formation of ANTARSYA. [Note: KKE(m-l) and ML-KKE are organizations of stalinist or mao-stalinist origin. EEK is troskyist, linked to the “Committee for Refoundation of the 4th International”/CRFI.] However, it’s a fact that this electoral reinforcement does not constitute a qualitative leap in the electoral interventions of this political “space” so far, despite the fact that the sum of their percentage (adding OKDE) comes close to 2%.

(d) In its first participation in the elections, OKDE (in 26 electoral peripheries – note: out of totally 55) got 2.002 votes and a percentage of 0,03%. It’s a satisfactory result, which could be better. In any case, we thank all those who fought to make OKDE’s programme and positions known and honored us with their vote.

3. The Independent Greeks were reinforced significally, mainly due to their anti-memorandum policy/rhetoric and not due to any of the right or far-right elements they have in their policy. [Note: Independent Greeks are led by Panos Kammenos, former cadre, PM and minister with ND.]

4. The impressive showing up of the fascist gang of Xrysi Avgi (“Golden Dawn”) is surely the negative point of these elections. However, it is the result of the crisis and rottening of the capitalist system and of the sharpening of the political crisis. The movement’s reaction against this “serpent’s egg” must be immediate, with self defence groups of natives and immigrants and with solidarity networks for dealing with the immediate problems of survival created by the crisis.

5. It is clear that after the electoral results, the political evolution speeds up. The bourgeois political forces, shot to pieces and in full decomposition, without visible perspective of reorganising and recomposing themselves, at political and organizational level, find it difficult (or even can not) to form a government – and even more to govern. Everything is in the air, in a vacuum: the memorandums, the loan treaties, their barbarous measures, the policies of subordination… and even the “european course of the country and the Euro” etc. In short, close to the financial crisis a huge political crisis is added, which contains all the basic elements of a prolonged open governmental crisis. A problem which does not seem to be solved neither with new elections (which nobody seems to want and mainly the bourgeois forces, the European Union and the imperialists). Maybe they will resolve to a new Bonapart, of different composition and nature than Papadimos.

The struggles, the huge demonstrations, the revolting clashes and now the electoral results show that the rejection of bourgeois policies has taken big dimensions and moreover that this rejections is growing and acquiring new and qualitative characteristics. This course seems difficult to stop from any bourgeois government with reformist clinchers, which will want to apply the same destructive, memorandum policies. In addition, the quest of the masses for something totally new and radically different is visible and doesn’t seem to be bent. All these show the forthcoming clash. OKDE has taken notice of it during the period before the elections and of course will also do it after the elections, too, taking into account the new situation. We will continue our struggle for strengthening and self-organizing the struggles, for building a new revolutionary force, for socialist revolution.

Organisation of Communists – Internationalists (Greece)